Re/code’s Peter Kafka reports that Twitter stopped showing ads to certain power users as a way to keep them engaged. The move surfaces some questions, like: Why has Twitter been sacrificing core user experience for (yet unrealized) user growth? Kafka dredges up an issue that must be lurking beneath many revenue discussions right now. “If Twitter thinks the best way to get people to use Twitter is not show them any ads,” he writes, “then maybe it ought to consider an ad-free option, supported by subscriptions.”

Product Envy

A new Gmail feature will allow users to surface addresses, phone numbers, membership numbers, flights, events, bills and package tracking more easily. “Emails can contain all sorts of important information – from your friend's new address, to a flight confirmation number or a link to pay a bill,” writes Google product manager Govind Kaushal in a blog post. “The challenge is, these bits of info are often buried inside larger conversations.” It’s a user add-on, not a paid media tool, but don’t forget that Google recently souped up its email marketing, and brands salivated over new targeting applications.

Hello, Bottomline

In an op-ed for TechCrunch, VC Ben Narasin describes the factors fueling the uptick in IPOs since 2009, and the 2015 contraction. Many points apply to ad tech as well. “The bull market since 2009 represented a very strong recovery fueled by [investors prioritizing the topline]. Concurrently, the percentage of companies profitable at time of IPO has trended down aggressively.” He concludes, “investors would rather see a slightly slower growth business that has already demonstrated a working unit economics model over a high flier with widening losses.” More.

Office Politics

Every campaign cycle, digital marketers churn out a series of data points layering consumer activity with voting habits. Ad Age notes a few recent examples from firms like Neustar, Rocket Fuel and Resonate, which claim, "There are cases where consumer values have a clear relationship to political values." Many political data specialists that have briefed AdExchanger take a different view (no surprise!), saying commercial data tie-ins are more correlation than causation. More.